Bach: Badinerie: For Cello and Viola Duo

In this arrangement, the viola and cello are equal protagonists and alternate the melody line (top voice) at each repeat. If one player finds the solo part too difficult then he/she should just always play the continuo (simpler) line. The “Easier Version” is simply transposed down one tone (into A minor) but apart from that it is identical to the “harder” version, and is, in fact not that much easier.

In order to notate the piece as it actually sounds, several radical modifications have been made to Bach‘s rhythmical notation (time signature and barlines). These notation changes only affect the ease of reading and phrasing for the player and do not change how the music sounds. Bach starts the piece with an upbeat but in this arrangement, the liberty has been taken of displacing the beat so that Bach’s upbeat is now the downbeat. Also, whereas Bach notates the entire piece with a constant 2/4 time signature, in this arrangement, one bar is notated with a 3/4 time signature. My apologies to Bach.